DATABASE – CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) a Good Database Is Critical to Fundraising and Especially to the Development of an Annual Campaign
DATABASE – CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) A good Database is critical to fundraising and especially to the development of an annual campaign. There are many options available that will work for nonprofits organizations from free (Salesforce - basic) to very expensive (and complicated) like Raiser’s Edge from Blackbaud. There are various applications and uses for the database: Constituent Management Constituent management is the traditional CRM equivalent of contact management. The difference, of course, is that constituent management can include donors, vendors, foundations, volunteers, alumni, students, and other groups. It also includes tools ranging from basic contact records to type classification, donation history, memberships, and social media engagement. Event Management Not all nonprofit CRMs offer event planning and management tools, but if your organization frequently plans charity dinners, auctions, conferences, etc., this feature is a must-have. The more competitive CRMs will let you schedule events, send invitations, track RSVPs, create seating charts, and let your team members check in and access this data from their mobile devices. Campaigns Marketing campaigns are the primary means for a non-profit organization to keep its constituents informed and solicit donations from new prospects. As sales are to profit-model businesses, so fundraising campaigns are to nonprofits. Luckily, you don’t need to spend hours designing pamphlets in Microsoft Office or adding email recipients to a newsletter one-at-a- time. Most nonprofit CRMs have helpful marketing automation features for multiple types of campaigns (email, direct mail, SMS, etc.). Donation Management Getting down to the nuts and bolts of fundraising, you’ll need a way to process donations when they happen.
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